3,963 books
—
11,926 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Valiant (Modern Faerie Tales #2)” as Want to Read:
Valiant
(Modern Faerie Tales #2)
by
When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.
But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature ...more
But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 314 pages
Published
October 2006
by Simon Pulse
(first published May 31st 2002)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
2,801 books
—
8,663 voters
More lists with this book...
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Valiant (Modern Faerie Tales #2)
Ravus nodded again. “I will make you as terrible as you desire.”
“I don't want to be-,” she started, but he held up his hand.
“I know you're very brave,” he said.
“Or stupid.”
“And stupid. Brave and stupid.” Ravus smiled, but then his smile sagged. “But nothing can stop you from being terrible once you've learned how.”
Holly Black has, apparently, been crafting marvelous worlds and characters for quite a long time now. I adored this story even more than her earlier Tithe.
Valiant is a Bea ...more
I hated loving this book. Having read Black's Titheand Ironside, I was none to keen on reading Valiant. Black has a penchant for writing about the scourge of human society, leaving me with a sense of filth, and therefore compelling me to exfoliate. None the less, Black’s writing is so perversely alluring, that she all but grabs you by the neck and drags you into the story.
Val is impossible to describe. She’s a shell of a girl. In possession of one lezzie best friend, a mohawk donning boyfriend, ...more
Val is impossible to describe. She’s a shell of a girl. In possession of one lezzie best friend, a mohawk donning boyfriend, ...more
It was a bit of a shock when I opened this book and the story wasn't about Kaye?? I assumed the whole series was about her and Roiben.
Anyway.... this book follows a girl called Val. Certain things happen in her life and she runs away from home to the city. There she meets other lonely souls (homeless kids) and ends up staying with them in the subway. Through these new friends of hers she finds out about the faerie realm and ends up becoming a delivery girl of sorts for a faery and helps him dis ...more
Anyway.... this book follows a girl called Val. Certain things happen in her life and she runs away from home to the city. There she meets other lonely souls (homeless kids) and ends up staying with them in the subway. Through these new friends of hers she finds out about the faerie realm and ends up becoming a delivery girl of sorts for a faery and helps him dis ...more
“One fine day in the middle of the night […] two dead boys got up to fight. […] Back to back they faced each other, pulled out their swords and shot one another. The deaf cop on the beat heard the noise and came and shot the two dead boys.”
So this was a big ol’ oof but I honestly thought I’d like it when I first started. The first few chapters were fine and I didn’t mind that this didn’t follow the cast of the previous book. I found that, over all, they were way more interesting as people th ...more
Oct 13, 2018
Candace Robinson
added it
So I didn't like this one as much as the first book, but I still loved it! I liked that the characters aren't your typical characters. Like you may not really like them, but you still totally do!
Also, can I just say the troll love was freaking awesome! I liked that Holly Black made the character fall for a troll and not a "hot" troll either! Although, I'm sure he's super adorable because his personality was lovely!
I felt for Valerie a lot, and yes she did some stupid things, yet I still wanted ...more
Also, can I just say the troll love was freaking awesome! I liked that Holly Black made the character fall for a troll and not a "hot" troll either! Although, I'm sure he's super adorable because his personality was lovely!
I felt for Valerie a lot, and yes she did some stupid things, yet I still wanted ...more
Jun 12, 2018
Alaina
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
paranormal,
horror,
june-challenge-2018,
fantasy,
fiction,
young-adult,
romance,
sci-fi,
supernatural,
fairy-tales
Ever since I finished Tithe I've wanted to finish this series.. but never seemed to try and read the second book. No idea why, maybe I'm super lazy or I just never got the book.. but I'm happy to redeem myself people.
It follows Val Russell, who is about 17 years old, and she have a terrible life. Her family sucked a bag of dicks and her whole life spiraled down a dark ass rabbit hole. Yeah, things were not sunny on her side of the street. The grass was not greener for her. Well, her life sort o ...more
It follows Val Russell, who is about 17 years old, and she have a terrible life. Her family sucked a bag of dicks and her whole life spiraled down a dark ass rabbit hole. Yeah, things were not sunny on her side of the street. The grass was not greener for her. Well, her life sort o ...more
I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the idea of the story captivating. Faeries are real, and they walk among us, hidden by glamour from human eyes. And they aren't necessarily good faeries--like humans, some are good, and some are stealthy. 17 year old Val discovers this world when she runs away from home and lives under the New York subway tunnels. Through unforeseen circumstances, she ends up indebted to a troll, delivering potions to faeries. But faeries are being poisoned, and Val
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Apr 24, 2008
Amanda
rated it
did not like it
Recommends it for:
posers, wanna-bes and those looking to flush their lives away
I hated this book from the first page.
Strong words, I know, but let's just have it out.
Trite, lame and basically a waste of tree. The plot was blurg, the characters were frighteningly unenthralling, the writing was fair, but you can find decent writing on the back of a cereal box.
The one book's one saving grace was a troll and though the idea was cool, it was hardly enough to save the entire horrible mess.
To rant in depth, I have to start with the drug thing. Magic as a drug (seen it! and it ...more
Strong words, I know, but let's just have it out.
Trite, lame and basically a waste of tree. The plot was blurg, the characters were frighteningly unenthralling, the writing was fair, but you can find decent writing on the back of a cereal box.
The one book's one saving grace was a troll and though the idea was cool, it was hardly enough to save the entire horrible mess.
To rant in depth, I have to start with the drug thing. Magic as a drug (seen it! and it ...more
Reread this while hiking across the moors. Love my troll boyfriend.
6/13/19 update:
*weary sigh* This is still by far my least favorite Holly Black book.
This was by far my least favorite Holly Black book. Too much drugs and not enough faeries for my tastes. But I’m going to read book 3 because it’s about the same characters from book 1, whom I adored. Why we had this second book about completely different characters is beyond me, but I basically hated this.
*weary sigh* This is still by far my least favorite Holly Black book.
This was by far my least favorite Holly Black book. Too much drugs and not enough faeries for my tastes. But I’m going to read book 3 because it’s about the same characters from book 1, whom I adored. Why we had this second book about completely different characters is beyond me, but I basically hated this.
3 stars
For my thoughts on book one, Tithe, see this review. My reviews for this series are reaction reviews, so please check the title page for a description.
This is such an interesting series to me. Not necessarily because of the strength of the plots or storytelling, but because it's an almost near-perfect excavation of a very particular YA trope niche in the mid-2000s.
After Tithe, this was an odd second novel - it follows a completely different set of characters and tackles different themes ...more
For my thoughts on book one, Tithe, see this review. My reviews for this series are reaction reviews, so please check the title page for a description.
This is such an interesting series to me. Not necessarily because of the strength of the plots or storytelling, but because it's an almost near-perfect excavation of a very particular YA trope niche in the mid-2000s.
After Tithe, this was an odd second novel - it follows a completely different set of characters and tackles different themes ...more
This was painful to read, I'm not even sure how I got through it.
Usually I quite like Black's writing, but this one I just couldn't get around. While I liked Tithe, although I didn't love it, Valiant follows a completely different set of characters.
None of the characters seemed particularly likeable or developed, and things really seemed to just spiral from one thing to the next without much explanation, skimming the surface. Even characters' relationships just seemed to constantly flip flop f ...more
Usually I quite like Black's writing, but this one I just couldn't get around. While I liked Tithe, although I didn't love it, Valiant follows a completely different set of characters.
None of the characters seemed particularly likeable or developed, and things really seemed to just spiral from one thing to the next without much explanation, skimming the surface. Even characters' relationships just seemed to constantly flip flop f ...more
Really boring..... nothing really happens...
Edit: December 20,2012
Can't bring myself to finish this novel....
...more
Edit: December 20,2012
Can't bring myself to finish this novel....
...more
Valiant by Holly Black
Valiant by Holly Black is a very intense teen-fantasy novel about a seventeen-year-old girl named Valerie Russell-also known as: Val. Valiant is Holly Black’s second novel. The first to her collection is Tithe. Both of these books are beautifully written and tie into the world of faeries and trolls and things of such nature. Black is an avid collector of scary stories, creepy dolls, and crazy hats.
Val is this amazing character who changes drastically throughout this book. ...more
Valiant by Holly Black is a very intense teen-fantasy novel about a seventeen-year-old girl named Valerie Russell-also known as: Val. Valiant is Holly Black’s second novel. The first to her collection is Tithe. Both of these books are beautifully written and tie into the world of faeries and trolls and things of such nature. Black is an avid collector of scary stories, creepy dolls, and crazy hats.
Val is this amazing character who changes drastically throughout this book. ...more
I was a bit disappointed when Valiant didn't start up where Tithe ended. However, I quickly got over it.
This story follows 17-year-old Val Russell who runs away from her dysfunctional home within the first few chapters. In a moment of shedding her confusion, she embraces a new identity and shaves her head, leaving everything behind. She also finds herself in the company of three homeless teens--Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live on an abandoned subway platform.
Eerie and strange, Val finds herself c ...more
This story follows 17-year-old Val Russell who runs away from her dysfunctional home within the first few chapters. In a moment of shedding her confusion, she embraces a new identity and shaves her head, leaving everything behind. She also finds herself in the company of three homeless teens--Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live on an abandoned subway platform.
Eerie and strange, Val finds herself c ...more
Had to think on this one for awhile and I have to go lower. There doesn't seem to be whole heck of a lot of point to this book.
...more
this is just so ,,, blegh
nothing about it is holding my interest and i'm not going to force myself to get through this
i'd much rather read books that are actually good xD ...more
nothing about it is holding my interest and i'm not going to force myself to get through this
i'd much rather read books that are actually good xD ...more
Okay, I was so surprised when I picked this one up and found out that it wasn't about Kaye. I honestly didn't even read the synopsis because I wanted to go into it surprised but still, I assumed it would follow the characters from Tithe.
Book two was just as weird as the first one (possible weirder) with a lot of questioning situations to be honest. In this one we follow Val and all the strange events that she goes through. Another girl who meets the Faerie realm and its inhabitants. Ravus was al ...more
Book two was just as weird as the first one (possible weirder) with a lot of questioning situations to be honest. In this one we follow Val and all the strange events that she goes through. Another girl who meets the Faerie realm and its inhabitants. Ravus was al ...more
This story was much too disconcerting for me to thoroughly enjoy. To be frank, I think that I liked it better when Holly Black's Faerie stories were centred on the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. There was much more intrigue, and a sense of newness and discovering something unknown.
The stories that are based in OUR world, aren't as strong. And the protagonists... are a bit more from the seedier side of life.
This was true here. Val comes from a home of a single mum, and upon discovering a secret - in ...more
The stories that are based in OUR world, aren't as strong. And the protagonists... are a bit more from the seedier side of life.
This was true here. Val comes from a home of a single mum, and upon discovering a secret - in ...more
Jan 04, 2021
DJ
rated it
it was ok
Shelves:
young-adult,
female-author,
north-america,
published-2000-2009,
series-to-read-now,
fantasy,
fae,
lgbtqia
Before starting the Modern Faerie Tales series, I’d loved everything I’d read by Holly Black. But I’m really struggling with these. I can’t even put my finger on why, I’m just finding everything so uninteresting.
1 more to go...
1 more to go...
I thought Kaye, the main character of the first book, Tithe, had a difficult childhood, but it was nothing compared to this. I wonder if Holly Black had a difficult childhood too.
Most of the book follows Val and her friends Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live in a disgusting, abandoned subway station, while they are high on faerie drugs all day. Val even starts acting like Alex DeLarge at one point when she breaks into a family's home. Lolli kills a cat at one point because she is just tired of taki ...more
Most of the book follows Val and her friends Lolli, Dave, and Luis who live in a disgusting, abandoned subway station, while they are high on faerie drugs all day. Val even starts acting like Alex DeLarge at one point when she breaks into a family's home. Lolli kills a cat at one point because she is just tired of taki ...more
In Valiant, we meet Valerie.
Val cuts off her hair and runs away to New York City upon discovering that her mother and her boyfriend, Tom, were having an affair. Blech. She finds refuge with a group of teenage squatters: Lolli, Dave, and Luis. They give her the nickname Prince Valiant and later disclose to her that they are in regular contact with the troll, Ravus. He creates Glamour, which exiled faeries use to make their bodies resistant to iron. Glamour is also used by mortals as the addictiv ...more
Val cuts off her hair and runs away to New York City upon discovering that her mother and her boyfriend, Tom, were having an affair. Blech. She finds refuge with a group of teenage squatters: Lolli, Dave, and Luis. They give her the nickname Prince Valiant and later disclose to her that they are in regular contact with the troll, Ravus. He creates Glamour, which exiled faeries use to make their bodies resistant to iron. Glamour is also used by mortals as the addictiv ...more
I have a lot of emotions about this book. I found that I either loved what was happening or hated what was happening. Nothing was middle ground and I feel kind of odd giving it a three star rating because of it. I loved the dark nitty grittiness of the story and the main character Val; but at the same time I think a lot of things that were being focused on would’ve worked better if they were more like underlying themes and less at the forefront of the book. I needed more faeries and magic, don’t
...more
this was a 2.5 stars at first but of course holly black delivered the action packed, plot twist/reveal and it made it a three.
i definitely like the first book in this trilogy wayyyy more. i didn’t like val as a main character if i’m being honest. the decisions she made were so dumb i wanted to slap some sense into her. i also didn’t like the real world aspect that was incorporated. the whole homeless teenagers living under the subway doing faerie drugs was so dumb if you ask me.
but the faerie s ...more
i definitely like the first book in this trilogy wayyyy more. i didn’t like val as a main character if i’m being honest. the decisions she made were so dumb i wanted to slap some sense into her. i also didn’t like the real world aspect that was incorporated. the whole homeless teenagers living under the subway doing faerie drugs was so dumb if you ask me.
but the faerie s ...more
I can’t lie I was disappointed when I picked this up and realised it wasn’t about Kaye! This ones about a girl called Val...who honestly I thought was just...boring, I didn’t like her or really connect with any of the characters in the book.
Tbf this whole story was kind of just boring compared to the first one. It was enjoyable enough to get through but idk it was just slow and boring and not really all that exciting. The excessive drug use for most of the book wasn’t exactly great content eith ...more
Tbf this whole story was kind of just boring compared to the first one. It was enjoyable enough to get through but idk it was just slow and boring and not really all that exciting. The excessive drug use for most of the book wasn’t exactly great content eith ...more
Making my way through Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales Series and TFOTA before the release of The Queen of Nothing in November (yes, this year!). Read this after Tithe in what appears to be the right order, and I am equally torn about what rating to give it! Let me try to digest my thoughts.
While set in the same universe as Tithe, Valiant follows different characters, though there are some cameos. As its predecessor, it is characterised as an urban fantasy, succeeding in embedding the reader in ...more
While set in the same universe as Tithe, Valiant follows different characters, though there are some cameos. As its predecessor, it is characterised as an urban fantasy, succeeding in embedding the reader in ...more
YA urban fantasy, loosely based on the story of 'Beauty and the Beast'. Val doesn't entirely mean to run away from home, but when home betrays her it's easy to not go back yet - to stay in the dark world of faeries and addiction she's stumbled into in New York. She's drawn further into that world when a moment of instinctive chivalry sees her bound in service to the troll Ravus - who, Val discovers, is in grave danger.
My short reaction here is: This was a good book, and I didn't like it much.
Lon ...more
My short reaction here is: This was a good book, and I didn't like it much.
Lon ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. y/a fantasy, teenage girl runaway steps foot into dark fairy/elf world. [s[ | 3 | 32 | Aug 10, 2020 09:59AM | |
| YA Buddy Readers'...: Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black - Restarting March 3rd 2020 | 29 | 53 | Mar 15, 2020 03:31PM | |
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Looking for a YA fantasy FIC book about a teen girl who ran away. [s] | 4 | 31 | Jul 09, 2019 01:49PM | |
| Madison Mega-Mara...: Valiant by Holly Black | 2 | 4 | Apr 30, 2013 05:22AM | |
| Ask Holly Black!: Val and Ravus | 6 | 159 | Dec 01, 2012 09:01PM |
Readers also enjoyed
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house
...more
Other books in the series
Modern Faerie Tales
(3 books)
Related Articles
As dedicated readers already know, some of the best and most innovative stories on the shelves come from the constantly evolving realm of...
63 likes · 13 comments
21 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“You carried my heart in your hands tonight," he said. "But I have felt as if you carried it long before that.”
—
190 likes
“I would remain nearer you for what time there is."
"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.
Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”
—
120 likes
More quotes…
"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.
Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”
